Dental expander or dilator.



y 110.815,90?. l l 'PATENTBD MAR.20, 1906.

` 0. e. DAVIS. f

, DENTAL BXPANDER'OR DILATGR.

APPLIOATION FILED HARM. 1905.

rimini) STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CLEVELAND G.. DAVIS, OF MANISTE, MICHlGAN.

DENTAL EXPANDER OR DILATOB.

Specification of Letters Patent.

' Patented March 20, 1906.

To all whom it' may concern.: l

Be it known that I, CLEVELAND G. DAvIs, a citizen of the United States,residing at Manistee, in the county of Manistee and State of Michigan,have invented new and useful Improvements in Dental Expanders orDilators, of which the following is a specification.

The objects of my invention are, first, to provide an instrument of thecharacter mentioned for engagingthe teeth and opening the jaws of thepatient by an expansion-screw, for any operation or need whatsoever, andholding the jawsapart and the mouth open, which said instrument may beturned entirely out of the way during the operation, second, to providea lip-dilater for use in connection with the jaw-expander, whichlip-dilator is made attachable to the hook and is held in place byfriction alone, so that there is nothing in the way of attaching devicesto harm the gums 'or lips orV other part of ythe mouth, the saidattachable device operating to dilate the lips and push the same away oraside from the teeth, thus permitting light to enter the mouth andrthroat, and especially preventing yinjury to the lips, because ofpossible contact with any instrument used in performing saidL operation;third, to provide hook lift attachments, upon which 'may be placedremovable sections of rubber tubing 0r other cognate means to cover thehooks, which may be perfectly fitted to the teeth or gums to preventinjury to them during the operation, which tubes are to be removed aftereach operation and eectually cleansed, thus providing for completesterilization and cleaning by anesthetics of all parts ofthe instrument.I attain these andv other desirable objects by an instrument constructedof nickel, steel, or other desirable metal, as is represented in theaccompanying drawings, forming a part of this specificati on, in which-Figure l shows the dilatorin plan. Fig. 2

vis an end view looking from the hooks toward the screw end. Fig. '3 isa front view of one v of the hooks, showing them as pivoted to the bowand turned at a right angle thereto. Fig. 4 is a front view of thelip-dilator. Fig. 5 is a rear view of the hooks turned at a right angleto the bow-arms to which theyl are pivoted. Fig. 6 is a front view ofthe hooks as shown in Fig. 3 and showing also the lip-dilator connectedtherewith, which is held frictionally. Fig. 7 is a side view of theparts as shown in Fig. 6. Fig. 8 shows a section of rubber tubing to beused in covering the hooks as shown in Fig. l.

In thedrawings, A designates the frame or bows, constructed with a hin eG, so as to allow it to be expanded and c osed, as indicated by thedotted and full lines in Fig. l. l

B B are hooks formed on the end of an angular plate attached to the endsof the bow-y arms or frame A A by means of a pivot K to keep theinstrument in the mouth and engaged with the teeth or gums, so that thearms and bow portion of the frame can be moved to one side or the other,leaving the open mouth free and unobstructed-that is, out of the way ofthe operator when at work in the mouth. The said hooks are covered wi thshort pieces of rubber tubing I, as shown at one side in Fig. 1, or padsof rubber or they like, which may be removed from the hooks andcleansed, will answer as well.

C is the hub constructed and working within and cooperating with thehinge G upon the frame or bows A A, as shown in Figs. l and 2.

D l-designatesan expansion thumb screw working through the hub C. bymeans of athread cut thereon and inturned by means ofthe key-shaped headshown, the said expansion thumb screw passing through the bracket F andattached thereto by the co1- lars L.

E E are braces connecting the bracket F with the bows A A by means ofthe pivots J J J J at each of their ends. inner end of theexpansion-screw D attached to it by means of the collarv L, which isconnected to the bows A A and braces E E, as is clearl shown.

G designates the hinge connecting the two sections of the bows A A ofthe frame with each other, allowing them to open and. shut or beexpanded and closed, as already indicated with reference to Fig. 1 andthe full and dotted lines thereof.

H is an attachment to support and expand or dilate the lips of thepatient and is shown in Figs. 4, 6, and 7. It is constructed with a Thebracket F has the.

TOO

cross-piece h, provided with a spoon-shaped between the legs h2 theredepends a halfround plate h3 in such a way as to leave a slight spacebetween the said legs and plate.

With this construction the cross-piece h is placed upon the part of theplate extending horizontally from the pivot upon which the the hooks Bare formed (see Fig. 6) with the legs h2 astride of the plate and behindit, (see dotted lines in Fig. 6,) and the plate h3 in front of the baseof the hook-plate B. In this way the lip-dilators or spoon-like supportsh will extend out on each side and curve gracefully downward from thehook` plate and hooks. (See again Fig. 6.) By the means described thelip-support can be attached and held in place frictionally, which is animportant feature of the invention.

In Fig. 8, I shows a section ofrubber tubing, such as may be used tocover the hooks for the purpose of preventing injury to the gums.

The bracket F is connected to the bows through the medium of the braces,and the angular bases of the hook-plates B are pivoted on the ends ofthe bows, which permits of the latter and their connections being swungentirely out of the way, as I have already explained, and which is sodesirable during any operation on the teeth, mouth, or throat.

The collar L is the means by which in connection with the headed end ofthe expansion-screw D the said screw is made attachable to the bracketF.

I am aware that prior to my invention there has been patented a deviceknown as a dental jaw-brace, operated by a screw, and also a dentaljaw-prop. My invention is not alone a jaw brace or aprop, and it differsfrom all other contrivances for such purposes, vin that it is anexpander and dilator, acting upon both the teeth and lips, and soarranged that the instrument may be turned completely out of the way ofthe operator, leav- 1 ing the open mouth of the patient clear andunobstructed.

Various changes may be made in the forni and arrangement of partsconstituting my invention without departing from the nature or spiritthereof.

I claim- 1. The combination with the expansiblc bow, of the teeth orgums engaging hooks pivoted to the ends of the bows, and rubber tubingcovering the hooks.

2. The combination with the expansible bow, of the teeth or gumsengaging hooks pivoted on the free ends of the bow and a lip rest anddilator frictionally engaging the base of the hooks.

3. The combination with an expansible bow, of hooks pivoted on the freeends of the bows and consisting of an angular base-plate having twoupturned ends, `the horizontal part of the base-plate being pivoted tothe ends of the bows.

4. A lip dilator and support consisting of a cross bar spoon-like lipsupport extending from each side thereof, and legs and a plate dependingfrom said cross-bar.

5. The combination with the expansible and contractible bows and screwfor controlling the same, of teeth-hooks pivoted on the ends of thebows, said hooks consisting of an. angular plate with two upturned ends,the horizontal part of the angular hook-plate bcing pivoted on the endsof the bows.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

CLEVELAND G. DAVIS.

Witnesses:

LILLIAN F. WHITE, J. Roon MAGNAN.

